Loner
by L Bloodrose
Summary: Sequal to Wammy Days. Mild violence involved.
1. Chapter 1  Alone

**A/N: Hey, you know how I said Loner wouldn't take long? I lied. Obviously. Now, I will write this underneath my desk in fear due to a chance of pissed off reviewers trying to kill me, and yes, this one has plot. (All told in Beyond Birthday's POV~) :3**

**Alone**

* * *

She walked into her now quiet and dreary apartment. Z locked the door behind her, the first time in years, and unplugged all of R's computers she had left sitting there when she left.

The porcelain-skinned girl sat down. She was dead. Her best friend. The one who introduced her to sugar comas and giggled at the most random of times.

The air hung not of sweat and work as it did before, but sadness and hurt. Zero sat in her car for an hour until Matt asked if she wanted to come inside. Of course, the girl declined, and drove home.

The only other time I think she had felt this sad was when her parents died. And not even then had it been this rough. At least, she had people open with welcoming arms before. Matt and Mello, and possibly even Near or I if we found time for her, were there. Yet they all reminded Zero of Recent in some odd, twisted way. All of them. The people on the streets, lovers laughing, children playing...

It was dreadful. She thought about crashing the car, but did not. "The car shouldn't pay for my misfortune. After all, she had been good to me, not even breaking in car chases or explosions over the years. And, even when she did break, it was easy to fix..." She sighed and drove home, feeling acid creep it's way up her throat and tears burning into her ice blue eyes. Tears.

Tears. They made their way down Z's cheeks as she sat on her leather chair, sipping the bitter tea that eventually struggled it's way down her throat. Her body shook, a blanket of warmth swallowing her mind and body. It was a sickness worse than cancer, or tumors, or anything you could imagine. There is no remedy to it – you can't cut it out, or heal it with a magic cream or elixir. The only relief that can be obtained from this sorrow...this sickness... is what started it in the first place:

Death.

She considered it, if not only for a moment. It passed by her mind, as a car might pass in front of a person standing on the sidewalk. The sight of a knife, beautifully stained in her blood. The balcony outside, rivulets of crimson reflecting the moonlit night that would creep out between the pillars, eventually staining the sidewalk below. Wonderful. Magnificent, even. Or so she thought.

...But too many still needed her. The world was still ruled by the hand of Kira, false justice and illusions hypnotizing the innocent minds of the world. False justice, false religions...

False hope.

But god, it hurt so much. So, so much. The red walls of the apartment swirled around her, somehow egging on the tears and the pain. Memories flashed through Z's mind as she could only let go of something that was never hers in the first place. Her body shook once more, this time more violently, and nausea swirled in her twisted stomach – teasingly going up and down. Up and down.

"Up.

Down."

Zero was in a pathetic state. Both of her knuckles turned an eerie white that reminded her of her face, and the broken tea cup that stained the tan of the carpet turned to the troubled young adult's attention the halt of memories, the fading of Recent's face, and forgetting her over the eternity spent musing over a existence that was over. Never again. What would she be now without a friend to pull her of the hole – the grave – she had so readily built herself? No hands. All too busy pulling millions of others up, too busy to notice one lowly hand that still held on after she was out of cards.

She's stubborn, though. A person that had the lowest IQ could see that. She won't stop – didn't stop until she found the person that had murdered Recent.

Suddenly, tears turned into screams, and a flicker turned into a forest fire full of hate and anger. Rage driven power surged through her veins as she quickly slipped her coat on &disappeared out the door. A voice, amused and taunting -one only a demon could posses - played in the back of her mind.

"_Let's make him pay. Avenge the one that was taken from you all too early; make him suffer worse than you. Make him feel the pain that grows in your heart. Ignore the pleading as he has done to her, and leave him begging for the end. "_

* * *

Of course, as you'd guess, Kira – Light, wasn't the only one to become cursed with the Death note, certainly not the first. You see, there was one other that had (more impressively) used and set up everything so almost everyone could benefit. You see, later on that day, when Zero had investigated the corpse, she found "BB" on the arm of the victim. She had been shot in the face, yet upon closer inspection it was reveled the birthmark on her left foot was not there. A set-up. Recent could still be alive, however, the second "BB" was still a mystery. It dawned on her that Recent could be BB, but she shooed it away. R knew she would check the body. Z knew R long enough that she learned her techniques and this was nothing like what R would do. R was precise, and careful in these kind of things.

"Unless... she wants me to think that this wasn't her. Unless she wanted me to find the body and conclude she was still alive. Recent... where are you?"

Now at this point in the story, I feel I must remind you of the note Another had left me. This particular note had changed Recent's life, only because she was one of the few who had understood why I had to do what I did.

However; there was a 3rd player in the game, now. And this player hid behind the scenes while Recent battled her own thoughts and fears... my successor.

Before Bloodshed.

* * *

Before absolutely hated... detested Kira, for obvious reasons. But she would not kill civilians. Every person she killed was a criminal of some sort, with or without the Death Note she used. In every blank, she wrote "Suicide by hanging." She would walk to the place specified and put chemicals and poisons in their bodies to see how they would react. The redhead was the only exception.

She had tried a live victim, one who was selling drugs "under the table" so to speak for large profit. She spasmed and died almost instantly. Needless to say, (that being her first victim,) it was a disappointment, and Before had shot the girl over and over, aiming primarily for her face. This was the set-up for the plan she had in store, and everything had to be done with perfection. Before dug the bullets out of the corpse and made the wounds larger as to confuse the police. As I had done, she wiped the finger prints off of everything, including the gun and stored it in a place no one would ever find it.

Before sat in a plush chair in a underground house she had personally constructed, and turned on the lamp with a robotic movement, lighting a room with dirt walls, and a long elegant carpet in gold and red.

She spoke in a innocent voice that could barley be heard, frightened as if she where a little girl.

"I've... killed two people..."

A dark chuckle escaped the head dressed figure standing behind her, remembering the heart attack she had given the criminal on the street; Before standing only inches away. His hook gleamed in the candle light as he waltzed over to a furry black jacket and rubbed his face on it possessively.

'So soft...Anyway, don't worry much about it. It's natural for humans to be-" The shinigami stopped to stoke a hand through the fur as one might a small kitten; a look of awe in his face.

"Zellogi, please continue your sentence..."

"Oh...right. Anyway; It's natural for humans to have a negative reaction to killing. You'll get used to it eventually. You think these come in my size?"

Before rolled her eyes and plopped a blueberry in her mouth, and continued to write in her (normal) notebook.

A few seconds later, a ripping sound echoed through the dim room, followed by a gravel-scraped voice.

"Oops."

Before continued writing dates and times and places, not affected in the least that her favorite jacket was now ruined.

**

* * *

**

I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE, OR ZELLOGI (for that matter) OR ANY OF THE OTHER ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS , AND NEVER WILL.

**But now that I've got that matter off my chest, I give you all permission to yell at me through PM. Just not the reviews. And another thing: Next chapter will be longer, and have a little more to do with Matt and Mello. It won't be a long wait this time, more like a week. **

**This is supposed to be a little darker than Wammy Days, due to not only the consequences, but the fact that my writing style has changed dramatically. Sorta. **

**So, please don't kill me. **

**~Z**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second is first**

* * *

Matt slid easily past the neon tape. The house was no longer white, instead bathed in blue and red lighting and surrounded with police officers.

Matt reached a gloved hand to the lavish metal handle and twisted it with haste. A instant pang of death was immediate as he and another young man, one with blonde locks and a grim face, entered the house. They silently walked upstairs, the house completely blank and void of all but one large window in the master bedroom, and a single blue chair now splattered in a dark brick color drenched in the scent of blood. In the middle of the room was a man.

He slowly swayed, back and forth, back and forth. Renard Basch, a rapist that (was) under house arrest swung from a rope, his once brown hair matted in blood, and blue eyes turned a pale white. One of his arms was sliced vertically from his right shoulder to his middle finger. On his chest was a circle, and his left leg held a diagonal gash from the top of his thigh to just above the ankle where it faded out.

"Obviously a murder..." Mello said, chipping off a large chunk of chocolate and coating his mouth in the bitter-sweet substance. Matt looked up from the annoying blinking of his video game, and added:

"A copycat murder."

A Wara Nigyo doll was plastered on each of the walls, including the floor. One was nailed to Renard's head – right in the middle of his eyes.

A writing on the wall, a poem of some sort, read:

"_Life isn't fair - not by any means,_

_and innocence is no longer what it seems._

_Over and over, a broken record plays,_

_repeating history in so many ways._

_Forgive and forget is now part of the past,_

_second is first, and first is last. _

_~Before Bloodshed"_

It was sharpie, and the hand writing seemed to be hard and quick, as if the killer had been in a rush of some sort. It (and the rest of the house) was void of any DNA exempting the blood on the chair and floor. Even the light bulb sockets where wiped spotless.

Mello raised an eyebrow, as Matt sketched the words in a notepad, his game in his back pocket.

* * *

Zero looked through the pages and the pictures, occasionally furrowing her eyebrows.

"Before... Bloodshed? Is the name trying to imply that he's preventing some kind of crime, or..."

Her voice faded, eyes narrowed and breathe baited. She sighed loudly, leaning back.

Zero didn't want to believe it, but what other choice did she have?

"It was Recent. I'm sure of it." She typed it quickly on her computer. A synthetic voice answering back almost automatically.

"Either way, if this was indeed a copycat crime there should at least be five more victims. I expect you to try to prevent these, naturally. But, what it does lack is a reason. Beyond Birthday challenged me, and that was the primary reason. Yet, there was no warning, no crossword puzzle, so could Before Bloodshed have another motive; perhaps if it really is Recent, challenging you rather than me? "

"That's a good point. I'll find it right away."

"Thank you for your help."

"No problem, L. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Not even a simple "Sorry." She was a little upset she had to destroy a perfectly good computer. Z chuckled to herself, imagining Matt's reaction if he had been there

She quickly stopped, however, a grim emotion sweeping over her. Recent had committed these crimes. Of course, she blamed it on herself for not noticing early on, or letting Recent get into the hands of whoever kidnapped her. A voice, one that sounded much like your's truly, hissed in the back of her head once again.

"_Ah, friendship isn't what it's all cracked up to be, eh? Looks like the person you where trying to protect is the person you're so desperate to kill. How intriguing. Which will you choose? One..._

_or five?" _

A dry laugh echoed in her mind.

"_What's good isn't always what's right, you know. You can't save them all. So who will it be? Five innocents, or one special person, hn? Greed or good. Which will consume you first...?"_

Z blinked a couple of times, and the laugh was gone, a mere memory. But it was right. She didn't even know where Recent was hiding, much less what she was doing. Was she going to try to find Recent, or somehow protect 5 other unknown people from getting slaughtered?

Beyond had gone as far as helping Naomi solve his own clues, was Recent trying to do the same thing? Even IF Recent had changed her face and hair, etc., Z would still be able to recognize her, right?

Than again, the Recent she knew wouldn't have killed this man, or anyone for that matter.

This wasn't Recent.

But, if it wasn't R... than who was it?

* * *

R crawled into bed, covers eloping her and protecting her as well as the dirt walls around her. A lamp, lone and unique shone in the middle of the room.

"Zellogi... what have I done?"

Zellogi cuddled a faux fox fur coat, snuggling it obsessively.

"You've killed a person. Another one. I'd think that was obvious, but..."

Recent's tears glittered in the dim light. Zellogi waltzed over, fur coat hanging loosely now from his shoulders, and tipped his head to the side.

"Weren't you doing this for a 'good cause' or something? You ranted about it all last night..." He raised the hook to his head, rubbing the rounded part of the metal to his temple.

Before Bloodshed slipped out of the covers, a glare masking her eyes.

"I'm avenging Beyond, Zellogi. I'm doing it for everyone who ever came second, who ever-"

"Yeah, I know..." A rough , tired voice drifted through the air. Zellogi's skulls made a slight clicking sound as he walked.

"Why is it so humid in here? Hmph..." His left hand moved to scratch his head as the hook on his right tapped annoyingly on the dirt wall.

"Ugh... we need to make air holes or some'tin. God, it's killing me."

"No, it's not. Now stop whining. I'M the one who has the headache now..." R rubbed her head, slightly ruffling her short red hair. She yawned and scribbled obsessively in her book, plotting and planning on what to do next. "I wonder if Z got the message... I really hate doing this."

Zellogi grinned at this.

"You seemed perfectly fine before.."

"But killing people isn't right."

"It isn't? Who said that?"

Before Bloodshed ceased writing and looked up. "You have a point. You see, the reality is there's no difference between good and evil. Who to decide what's right and what's not, hn? The higher ups? What makes them better? "Good" and "evil" are just names – labels – to put on things. What may be closer to the truth is "chaos" and "order," but those are still not much better."

She stopped and popped a blueberry in her mouth.  
"Sanity. Insanity. Is there really any difference?"

* * *

Now at this point in the story, I, once known as Beyond Birthday, should remind you that I set this up, knowing that the girl's close friendship with each other would come in handy. My original motive was to challenge L and show that I – the copy – could, indeed, defeat him. What I didn't expect was Naomi Misora. I had easily underestimated her abilities, leading to my arrest and eventually, my death.

Recent was trying to avenge me, and below that, protect the people she cared about.

One person can affect the world dramatically – it being proved by our history. And this is what Before Bloodshed – not Recent Release – worked to accomplish. She wanted to create a case that L, couldn't defeat. To finish what I had started.

Yet Recent wanted to demolish the titles of "being number one," or "being smarter than someone else, " etc. Recent didn't want to avenge me, but wanted to finish what Another had started.

Zero, at the age of fifteen, tried to kill herself because she was not good enough. Luckily, our favorite redhead got there in time to stop her.

What I couldn't do for Another.

This had opened Recent's eyes, and created Before Bloodshed. And things kept bilding up. She spent years of planning and plotting to do what she did. And it payed off.

But Before and Recent's goals were two sides of the same coin, to put it in those terms. Two people, one body. No, it wasn't schizophrenia, I'm not sure what to call it.

Two people, striving for different things, and accomplishing the exact same thing in the end.

* * *

**Well, chapter 2 as I promised. There will be some more Death Note characters included in the next one, including some you wouldn't expect. **

**I don't own Death Note~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~.**

**Reveiw. I'm lonely.**

**~LBR**


End file.
